COMMERCE – The Texas A&M University-Commerce volleyball team had its back against the wall after dropping the first two sets of the day, but roared back to take a 3-2 win over visiting Midwestern State on Saturday afternoon.
 
Set scores were 21-25, 23-25, 25-18, 25-18, 15-12.
 
The Lions have now won five consecutive matches to move to 10-6 overall and 4-2 in the Lone Star Conference. The Mustangs fall to 7-8 overall and 3-4 in the league.
 
A&M-Commerce will take the New Mexico swing for its next action, playing at Eastern New Mexico on Friday night and at Western New Mexico on Saturday night.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Daisge Smith was the only Lion in double digit kills with 13, but four other Lions had seven or more kills.
- The Lions hit .186 for the match, while MSU hit .163.
- Ashley Mireles had 24 digs to lead the match, while Rylie Fuentes passed out 34 assists in the match.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lions led the opening set until a 7-0 run by the Mustangs put the guests up by a 15-11 count. A&M-Commerce fought back to close the margin to a single point at 21-20, but MSU scored four of the final five points in the set. The Lions hit only .098 in the set and hit into the MSU block three times.
 
The Mustangs pushed their match lead to 2-0 in the second set thanks to four blocks on the Lions. Lacie Jessup opened the set with a pair of service aces for the Lions and the hosts would see those two points turn into a 7-5 lead. MSU scored six straight points to steal the lead back. The Lions fought back to tie the set at 20-all after a pair of Mustang errors, but the guests scored the next two points and then held on for the set win. MSU hit .200 in the set and limited A&M-Commerce to a .143 percentage in the frame. Smith and Jaryn Wacker each had four kills in the set.
 
Fighting for the match, the Lions went on a big run in the third set to stay alive. The set was tied 15-all after a Smith kill that kicked off a 9-0 Lion run. Jaslyn Wacker had a pair of aces in the rally that allowed A&M-Commerce to keep the match rolling. Smith had five kills on six swings in the set, with the Lions hitting .222 and limiting the Mustangs to .067.
 
MSU led the fourth set 9-7 before a five-point Lion rally on the serve of Mireles. The Lions held a slim 19-18 lead late in the set, then finished strong, scoring the last six points, including three Smith aces. The Lions hit .267 in the set and held MSU to a .129 rate to force the deciding set.
 
The Lions roared out of the gate early in the fifth set, taking an early three-point lead. A Jaslyn Wacker kill put the Lions at match point, but the Mustangs scored twice to get within two points. Taryn Driver put away the match-sealing kill to win the Lions' fifth straight match.